Method for diagnosing neoplasms

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are uses of Gangliosides G M1  and/or asialo-G M1  substances simulating the carbohydrate portion of said gangliosides with regard to bonding to anti-G M1  antibodies and/or anti-AD M1  antibodies for producing agents which bind or block anti-G M1  antibodies and/or anti-AG M1  antibodies which bond to natural killer cells (NKC) or for blocking antigen-presenting cells and producing a T-cell anergy, and for producing an affinity material for the extracorporeal removal of anti-G M1  antibodies and/or anti-AG M1  antibodies in order to prevent, inhibit, and treat malignant cancers.

The invention relates to a method for diagnosing neoplasms in a human patient, in particular for the early diagnosis thereof, and for estimating the risk to a human patient due to the formation and/or spread of malignant neoplasms, by determining a “universal cancer marker substance” in a biological sample.

The marker substance determined according to the invention is a humoral marker substance which indicates with very high sensitivity (correct detection of samples of persons suffering from the disease) the presence of neoplasms in patients and additionally a particular risk situation/prognosis for patients in whom such neoplasms are not yet clinically manifest but who, because of, for example, their circumstances of life (for example exposure during work; smoking) and/or a previous disease and/or medical treatment, are exposed to a particular statistical risk of developing a malignant neoplastic disease.

In the context of the present Application, the term “neoplasm” is used as a general term or synonym for tumours, in particular malignant tumours, as are typical for cancer diseases (carcinomas). In a country such as Germany, more than 300,000 men and women contract malignant neoplasms, i.e. cancer, every year, the number of new cancer cases diagnosed annually and the mortality being considerable (cf. (1); in the description below, cross-references to sources are generally given as numbers in brackets; the numbers relate to the list of references at the end of the description). Malignant neoplasms can form in virtually any tissue or organ and, depending on the organ affected, a distinction is made between numerous cancer diseases which may differ considerably from one another with respect to their statistical frequency, prognosis and treatability.

Recent years have seen the development of a large number of therapies which have resulted in considerable progress in the curability of numerous forms of cancer diseases. In all cases, however, the prospects of curing cancer diseases are always better the earlier the cancer disease is diagnosed. Early diagnosis of cancer, i.e. diagnosis of neoplasms, at a time when there are as yet no or no significant clinical symptoms, is very particularly important.

For the detection of neoplasms as early as possible in clinical diagnosis, so-called “tumour markers” are determined in biological samples, in particular blood samples and body secretions, of patients investigated. Tumour markers are substances which are either formed directly by malignant tumour cells or which form because tumour cells induce the synthesis of the respective marker in non-tumour cells. If tumour markers are localized in increased concentration in biological fluid samples (humoral tumour markers) or in tissue (cellular tumour markers), they permit conclusions about the presence, the course and the prognosis of a tumour disease. The tumour markers currently introduced in clinical diagnostic practice may be oncofoetal antigens, carbohydrate epitopes detectable with monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, isoenzymes, oncogenic products and receptors. An overview of the tumour markers currently used in clinical diagnosis is to be found in (2).

Common to all currently determined tumour markers is the fact that, on the one hand, they have a relatively high organ specificity but that the sensitivity of their determination is at the same time relatively limited. The relatively high organ specificity of the tumour markers currently determined has on the one hand the advantage that their detection simultaneously provides information about the organ in which the causal cancer disease has occurred with high probability. However, the high specificity is a disadvantage in that cancer diseases of other organs are not diagnosable in the determination of organ-specific tumour markers, or the simultaneous determination of numerous different tumour markers is required for a comprehensive early diagnosis of cancer. The relatively low sensitivity of the determination of the known tumour markers (with a high sensitivity of a determination, most or all patients are correctly diagnosed), which is between 20 and 80%, depending on cancer disease and tumour marker, results in the risk of nondiagnosis of cancer diseases still being very high in spite of the determination of the tumour markers suitable per se for the purpose.

In view of the situation described, it would be extremely desirable to have a method which provides reliable information about the presence of any tumour disease (i.e. malignant neoplasms) with a very high sensitivity, so that, optionally by additionally taking into account the clinical picture of the patient investigated in order to avoid misinterpretations of the measured results, optionally further diagnostic measures for more exact localization and differential diagnosis of the neoplastic disease detected are then justified. At the same time, healthy persons should usually be capable of being diagnosed as such in such a method, so that a diagnostic false alarm can as far as possible be avoided. There is at present still no method which meets the requirement described and, in view of the high specificity and sensitivity differences of the tumour markers known to date, there is also little cause for hope that a universal, highly sensitive tumour marker having a low organ specificity would exist at all and would be capable of being made utilizable for clinical diagnosis.

The present invention is based on the extremely surprising finding that a certain antibody or autoantibody known per se in other contexts, provided it can currently be experimentally checked, is found at diagnostically significantly increased levels in all tested malignant neoplasms (cancer types) in biological samples, in particular patient sera, while the same antibody is not detectable in healthy normal persons or is detectable only in substantially smaller amounts. By determining this antibody, it is possible, according to the present invention, to detect with high reliability the presence of malignant neoplasms in patients or persons who undergo a routine examination or participate in a series investigation, without a significant number of healthy normal persons being determined as false positive. If the antibody determined also occurs in increased concentrations in some other special diseases, a correct interpretation of the results of measurements is as a rule possible without major difficulties on the basis of additional clinical findings.

According to the present invention, a method is therefore provided which can be designated as a method for the diagnosis, in particular for the early diagnosis, of neoplasms in a patient and for the estimation of its risk due to the formation and/or spread of malignant neoplasms, in which the presence and amount of antibodies which bind to ganglioside structures and to antigen structures simulating ganglioside structures, especially of antibodies binding to monosialo-G_(M1) (anti-G_(M1) antibodies) and/or antibodies binding to asialo-G_(M1) antibodies (anti-AG_(M1) antibodies) of the IgG and/or IgA type, are determined in a biological sample of the patient, and the presence of such antibodies and/or their amount significantly increased compared with normal persons are correlated with the presence of a neoplasm and/or an increased risk to the patient due to malignant neoplasms.

The method according to the invention, according to claims 2 and 3, is preferably a method in which antibodies of the IgG and/or IgA type which bind to G_(M1) and/or AG_(M1) are detected reliably and with high sensitivity in the measurement.

Advantageous variants and developments of the method according to the invention are singled out by claims 4 to 9 below.

A particularly important aspect of the present invention can be summarized as the use of antibodies of the IgG and/or IgA type which bind to AG_(M1) as universal markers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of malignant neoplastic diseases and for the estimation of the risk to a patient that he will develop a malignant neoplastic disease.

The discovery of the diagnostic method according to the invention, with a presentation of the measured values on which this method is based, and a currently preferred procedure for carrying it out in practice are explained in more detail below. An interpretation and ex-post plausibilization of the method according to the invention in the light of scientific publications which can be related to the subject matter of the present invention are given below and show that the determination, according to the invention, of anti-ganglioside antibodies or autoantibodies, in particular of those of said type, is also of considerable importance for a novel interpretation of the origin or development of cancer, the findings on which the present invention is based providing clear indications of novel therapeutic approaches to cancer prevention, cancer inhibition and optionally cancer treatment.

The present invention is a result of intensive research by the Applicant in the area of the clinical diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. It starts from the knowledge that the antibodies which are discussed in the literature in conjunction with autoimmune diseases, in particular nerve-damaging, neuropathic autoimmune diseases, also include certain anti-ganglioside antibodies.

Gangliosides are glycolipids which are constituents of the extracellular side of the plasma membrane of animal cells and as such also occur in nerve tissue. They contain several monosaccharide units per mole but have no phosphorus content and are assigned to the sphingolipids. Compared with proteins, they tend to be low molecular weight biomolecules. The gangliosides to which the antibodies discussed in the context of the present invention bind are the monosialo-ganglioside referred to generally as G_(M1) and the associated “asialo” compound AG_(M1). G_(M1) has a polysaccharide chain of 4 sugar monomer units which comprise two D-galactose units, one N-acetylgalactosamine unit and one D-glucose unit, the latter being bound to a ceramide moiety. In the ganglioside G_(M1), an N-acetylneuraminic acid radical (NANA; sialic acid or o-sialinic acid radical; “monosialo” radical), which is missing in the sialinic acid-free asialo-G_(M1) (AG_(M1)), is bound to the D-galactose unit arranged inside the polysaccharide chain.

Said gangliosides and related compounds are associated with numerous important biological functions of the human body, including, for example, axonal growth and neuronal differentiation, receptor functions and participations in various immune reactions of the body and in signal transduction and cell-cell recognition. In this context, reference is made, for example, to (14 to 26).

It has long been known that antibodies or autoantibodies which bind to said and related gangliosides can occur in the human body. The physiological role thereof and their possible importance for clinical diagnosis form the subject of numerous scientific investigations.

By far the predominant part of all published papers are concerned with the role and the diagnostic significance of anti-ganglioside antibodies in neuropathies, for example in immunomediated motor neuropathies, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (radiculoneuritis, polyradiculitis) and the related (Miller-)Fisher syndrome (cf. e.g. 27 to 43; 63). An increased occurrence of anti-G_(M1) autoantibodies in some patients was also reported in association with Alzheimer's disease (42). Furthermore, they were found in individual HIV patients (55 to 57). Individual experiments for their determination in association with certain cancer types were also reported (58 to 60), but only few informative results or results with a low sensitivity were obtained, which will be discussed in more detail below.

If the relevant publications are studied more carefully, what is striking is that, despite the similarity of the observations, the findings and information relating to the amounts to be observed—which as a rule tend to be small—and types of the various (auto)antibodies in the various patients differ relatively greatly from one another in detail. This is sufficient to lead to the conclusion that the determination of such antibodies is only of limited to doubtful value for clinical diagnosis (39, 62).

On the basis of the literature data, which in some cases diverge considerably, the Applicant gained the impression that one reason for this might lie in the methodology, and, owing to systematic errors of the measuring methods used, no truly reliable, informative results are available to date. Most of the determinations for which results were published were carried out by means of immunoassays of the ELISA type, which were designed to employ a solid phase to which gangliosides—partly obtained by the authors themselves from biological material—were bound. This solid phase was reacted with the biological fluid sample in which the antibodies to be determined were presumed to be present. After the respective chosen incubation time, a solid-liquid separation and washing of the solid phase, human antibodies bound to said solid phase were then marked unspecifically with enzyme-marked animal anti-human Ig antibodies and were determined.

When applied to the anti-ganglioside antibody determination, such an assay scheme is extremely susceptible to disturbances and errors of measurement and is capable of giving reliable, reproducible results only on careful standardization and normalization. One of the reasons for this is that the quality of the solid phase which is obtained by immobilizing the relatively low molecular weight gangliosides is liable to considerable variations. This is partly due to the fact that, before the reaction with the fluid sample, remaining free binding capacities of the solid phase have to be saturated. As a rule, bovine serum albumin, i.e. a protein, is used for this purpose. However, this step results in the unspecific binding of other proteins, for example those of the IgG type, from the sample being very high, which leads to a strong background signal, against which the antibodies to be determined have to be determined. If, however, the sensitivity of an assay is not very high—which is as a rule the case with assays of the ELISA type—background signals and measured signals can be superposed to such an extent that incorrect (false negative or false positive) or unreliably reproducible measured results are obtained. Regarding the various assay methods used and the systematic and practical problems in the application of such methods to the determination of anti-ganglioside antibodies, reference may be made, for example, to (64 to 68), in particular (66) being concerned intensively with the problem of the practical determination of anti-ganglioside antibodies.

In view of this initial situation, the Applicant had decided to tackle the problem of the reproducible determination of anti-G_(M1) and anti-AG_(M1) antibodies and the diagnostic significance of such a determination, for example in Alzheimer's patients, and to make use of the particular experience and means available to the Applicant as a producer of assays for the clinical diagnosis of autoantibodies. For internal research, the Applicant developed variants of an improved modification of the previously known anti-ganglioside assays, while maintaining all customary quality standards. The measurements carried out using these improved assays on antibodies binding to G_(M1) or AG_(M1) in sera of a reference group of normal persons (blood donors) without clinically relevant pathological findings and in sera of various patients surprisingly showed, as will be described further below, that highly significantly increased titres for anti-G_(M1) or anti-AG_(M1) antibodies of the IgA and of the IgG type, but not of the IgM type, were found in all sera available to the Applicant and obtained from patients suffering from cancer, in comparison with normal persons, in particular with a sensitivity which reached virtually 100%, and that these significantly increased titres were found in all cancer sera without a selectivity with respect to some particular cancer disease being detectable. This finding was extremely surprising and is in contrast to all experience to date with biomolecules investigated or used as tumour markers.

Although the results described in more detail below were obtained using a certain improved ligand binding assay (“immunoassay”) from the Applicant's laboratory, the use of the knowledge obtained is possible not only with an assay of the special format described. Rather, it is assumed that the specific assay described below is still substantially suboptimal for the antibody assay in question, and that commercial assays for the clinical determination of anti-ganglioside antibodies, in particular of anti-G_(M1) and anti-AG_(M1) (auto)antibodies, will, after optimization, differ substantially in many respects from the assay described.

The methods for the determination of said antibodies in a biological sample may be any known immunodiagnostic methods which are used for detecting and for measuring antibodies (autoantibodies). Preferably, the antibodies are determined with the aid of a ligand binding assay, in which the respective ganglioside in immobilized form is used as an antigen for binding the antibodies sought. For marking the antibodies specifically bound from a biological sample, it is then possible to use anti-human antibodies marked in any suitable manner known per se, marked gangliosides or binders simulating the carbohydrate structure thereof and having an affinity suitable for the respective assay format.

Competitive assay formats may also have particular advantages. Preferably, instead of enzyme marking, another marking is chosen, for example marking for a chemiluminescence detection reaction, e.g. an acridinium ester. It is of course preferable to use, for the antibody determination, an assay which ensures the required high sensitivity in the range of the antibody concentrations occurring and permits separation of the measured signals from the assay background.

The assay method can be adapted to chip technology or designed as an accelerated test (point-of-care test).

In order to avoid unjustifiably narrow and restrictive interpretations of the terms used in the present Application and the associated claims, some of the most important terms are to be defined in particular below for the purposes of the present Application:

-   “Antibody”: This term includes, without distinguishing between     different methods of genesis and formation, antibodies both against     external antigens and against endogenous structures, i.e.     autoantibodies, where the latter may also have become autoantibodies     by antigen cross-reactions from antibodies against external antigens     and may have preserved their binding capability with respect to     external antigens.     -   When, for example, it is stated that an antibody binds “to         ganglioside structures and to antigen structures simulating         ganglioside structures” or is “reactive towards gangliosides or         certain gangliosides”, where reactive means “reactive in the         context of specific binding”, it should be sufficiently defined         by this definition without, for example, its specific binding         also to additional other antigen structures, or its practical         determination using reagents (for immobilization or marking or         as competitors) with molecular structures which only simulate         AG_(M1), in particular the carbohydrate structure thereof,         playing a role for the definition as antibodies according to the         invention. -   “Ganglioside” In the context of the present invention, the term     “ganglioside” primarily represents the gangliosides AG_(M1) in the     characterization of the binding behaviour of the antibodies to be     determined. However, the term is also intended to include related     gangliosides not investigated to date, e.g. fucosylated gangliosides     if it is found that antibodies also binding to these gangliosides     and having a comparable diagnostic significance for neoplasms are     found in cancer sera. -   “Assay” This term covers any highly sensitive ligand binding assays     suitable for a determination of the (auto)antibodies in question,     without any restriction to a certain assay format (sandwich assay,     competitive assay, agglutination assay) or a certain type of marking     being desired. Of course, certain assay formats and/or markings are     superior to others and are therefore preferred (for example,     chemiluminescence marking over enzyme marking). However, the use of     an assay which is poorer or better than the assay described     specifically below is not intended to depart from the scope of the     claims if it serves the diagnostic purposes defined in the present     Application. -   “Sensitivity” In the context of the present invention, a high     sensitivity means that the antibodies are found in at least 50%,     better 70%, preferably at least 50% and even more preferably at     least′ 95% of all patients suffering from cancer. -   “Universal” This term, like the term “unspecific”, in conjunction     with terms such as “biomarker” or “cancer or tumour marker”, means     that there is no specificity for a certain cancer disease and the     marker is found in diagnostically significant amounts in     substantially all cancer diseases, at least in all customary cancer     diseases of the internal organs and metastatic cancer diseases, and     very particularly in the cancer diseases mentioned below under the     numbers 1 to 13 in table 5.

Further meanings of the terms are evident to a person skilled in the art from the introductory and following description of the invention and its embodiments.

In the description below, in addition to the content of some tables, reference is also made to figures, which show the following:

FIG. 1 shows a graph of the results of the measurement of antibodies of the IgG class which bind to monosialo-G_(M1), in sera of 137 control persons, compared with the results of the measurement of sera of 147 tumour patients;

FIG. 2 shows the results of a measurement of the same sera as in FIG. 1 for antibodies of the IgA class which bind to monosialo-G_(M1);

FIG. 3 shows the results of the determination of antibodies of the IgG class which bind to asialo-G_(M1), in sera of 30 normal persons (controls), compared with the results of the measurement of 30 tumour sera (all sera are partial groups of the sera measured in FIGS. 1 and 2);

FIG. 4 shows the results of the determination of antibodies of the IgA class which bind to asialo-G_(M1), in the same sera as in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a graph which classifies the antibody determination in the tumour sera according to FIG. 1 with respect to the clinically diagnosed tumour types/diseases, which are characterized by numbers from 1 to 14, the meaning of the numbers 1 to 14 being explained in the description below;

FIG. 6 shows a classification of the measurement of antibodies of the IgA class according to FIG. 2, corresponding to the classification of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a classification of the measurement of antibodies of the IgA class according to FIG. 3, corresponding to the classification of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 shows a classification of the measurement of antibodies of the IgA class according to FIG. 4, corresponding to the classification of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 shows a graph which correlates the results of the determinations, in the same partial group of sera, of antibodies of the IgG type which bind to monosialo-G_(M1), and of the determination of antibodies of the IgG type which bind to asialo-G_(M1) (cf. FIG. 1 and FIG. 3); and

FIG. 10 shows a correlation, corresponding to FIG. 9, of the determination of antibodies of the IgA class according to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4.

Antibody Assays:

1. Preparation of the Assay Components:

A. Preparation of Test Tubes (Coated Tubes; CT)

Three types of test tubes were prepared: (a) test tubes to which the gangliosides G_(M1) and AG_(M1) were bound, and (b) test tubes having a BSA coating for the determination of the background signal specific to the sample.

a) For the preparation of the ganglioside-coated test tubes (GA-CTs), the gangliosides (G_(M1) and AG_(M1), in each case obtained from Sigma, Germany) were dissolved in methanol and then diluted in PBS (phosphate-buffered saline solution), pH 7.2, 25% methanol, to a concentration of 5 μg/ml. In each case 300 μl of this solution were introduced into polystyrene tubes (“Star” polystyrene tubes from Greiner, Germany) and incubated at room temperature for 16 h. Thereafter, the content of the tubes was removed by suction, and the tubes were filled with 4.5 ml of 0.5% BSA (bovine serum albumin, protease-free, from Sigma, Germany) in water for saturating free binding sites and were incubated for 2 h at room temperature. Thereafter, the tube content was decanted and the tubes were filled with 0.2% Tween, 10 mM Tris/HCl, 10 mM NaCl, pH 7.5, and decanted again. The tubes were then used for the antibody assay.

b) Since serum constituents bind to the BSA used for saturating free binding sites of the test tube wall, and the degree of such binding may be very different in the case of different sera, it is necessary to determine, for each serum separately, the background signal specific to the sample.

For this purpose, the same test tubes were filled with 4.5 ml of 0.5% BSA in water and incubated for 2 h at room temperature. Thereafter, the tube content was decanted and the tubes were filled with 0.2% Tween, 10 mM Tris/HCl, 10 mM NaCl, pH 7.5, and decanted again. The tubes (HR-CTs) were then used for the determination of the background signal specific to the sample.

B. Preparation of Acridinium Ester-Marked Anti-Human IgG or Anti-Human IgA Antibodies (Tracers)

Goat anti-human IgG antibodies (affinity-purified; grade II, from Scantibodies, USA) or goat anti-human IgA antibodies (affinity-purified; from Sigma, Germany), in each case 2 mg/ml in PBS, pH 7.4, 100 μl, were each mixed with 10 μl of acridinium NHS ester (from Hoechst, Germany; 1 mg/ml in acetonitrile; cf. DE 36 28 573 A1) and incubated for 20 min at room temperature. After addition of 300 μl of 20 mM glycerol, 50 mM NaCl, the marked antibodies were purified by means of adsorption chromatography via hydroxyapatite HPLC. The separation column used was an HPHT column (120 mm×8 mm), equilibrated in solvent A (1 mM NaPO₄, pH 7.0, 10% methanol, 0.1% Lubrol; “LM A”; Lubrol 17A17 was obtained from Serva, Germany). The flow rate was 0.8 ml/min. Bound antibodies were eluted by means of a linear 40 min gradient from LM A/LM B (500 mM NaPO₄, pH 7.0, 10% methanol, 0.1% Lubrol; “LM B”) at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min. The column outflow was measured continuously for UV absorption at 280 nm (protein) and 368 nm (acridinium ester). Acridinium ester not bonded to protein was eluted in unbound form from the column and thus completely separated from the marked antibodies. The antibodies were eluted at about 25 min. After determination of the protein concentration (BCA method) of the HPLC-purified marked antibodies, the tracers were diluted to a final concentration of 0.1 μg/ml in PBS, pH 7.2, 1 mg/ml of goat IgG (from Sigma, Germany) and 1% BSA.

2. Carrying Out the Determination of Anti-Ganglioside Antibodies

The samples (human sera) to be investigated were diluted 1:20 with PBS, pH 7.2, 1 mg/ml of goat IgG, 1% BSA. In each case 10 μl thereof were pipetted into GA-CTs or HR-CTs. A 16 h incubation with shaking (IKA shaker KS250 basic, 400 rpm) was then effected at 4° C.

Unbound antibodies were removed by filling/decanting the tubes 5 times with 1 ml of 0.2% Tween, 10 mM Tris/HCl, 10 mM NaCl, pH 7.5. Antibodies which remained on the tube surfaces were detected by binding of marked goat anti-human IgG or marked goat anti-human IgA, by incubating the tubes with, in each case, 200 μl of the respective tracer (cf. above, 1.B.) and then for 3 h at 4° C. with shaking. Unbound tracer was removed by washing 5 times (as above).

The amount of the marked antibody which remained on the tube surface was measured by means of a luminescence measurement in a Berthold LB.952T/16 luminometer.

The luminescence signal of each sample, obtained for GA-CTs, was corrected by the respective background signal for the same sample, measured using the HR-CTs. The resulting signal (difference signal) is the signal for antibodies from the respective sample which bind to the gangliosides G_(M1) and AG_(M1). Dilution series of samples having a high content of anti-ganglioside antibodies were used as relative calibrators for the quantification.

3. Measurement of Sera of Healthy Normal Persons (Controls) and Cancer Patients

Using the test tubes prepared as described and using the method described above, the following series measurements were carried out: Control sera: 137 control sera (blood donor sera and, for avoiding age-related influences on the antibody concentrations, sera of normal persons of various ages from old people's homes and of the Applicant's employees) served as control sera for the antibody determinations using GA-CTs which were coated with G_(M1). For the antibody determinations using GA-CTs which were coated with AG_(M1), a partial group of these sera, which comprised only 30 sera, was measured.

Test sera: 147 sera of patients with clinically diagnosed tumours of various organs/tissues and, additionally, 20 sera of patients with chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases served as test sera for the antibody determinations using GA-CTs which were coated with G_(M1). For each test serum there existed exact clinical documentation which permitted a classification of the sera of cancer patients, used in the measurement, according to the tumour type found in them. For the antibody determinations using GA-CTs which were coated with AGml, a partial group of these sera, which comprised only 30 sera of cancer patients, was measured.

The results of the determinations of antibodies of the IgG and IgA classes using GA-CTs which were coated with G_(M1) are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The results of the determinations of antibodies of the IgG and IgA classes using GA-CTs which were coated with AG_(M1) are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 5 shows a classification of the measured results according to FIG. 1 (IgG) according to clinical pictures. The index numbers plotted in the horizontal direction represent the clinical diagnoses shown in the list below: Index number Diagnosis Number of sera 1 Carcinoma of the colon n = 37 2 Carcinoma of the breast m = 19 3 Ovarian carcinoma n = 13 4 Carcinoma of the stomach n = 11 5 Carcinoma of the pancreas n = 11 6 Carcinoma of the oesophagus n = 12 7 Carcinoma of the gall n = 8 bladder 8 Carcinoma of the liver n = 7 9 C cell carcinoma n = 3 10 Carcinoma of the thyroid n = 5 11 Carcinoma of the prostate n = 5 12 Carcinoma of the lung n = 8 13 Other carcinomas n = 8 14 Crohn's disease/ulcerative n = 20 colitis

The “other carcinomas” were distributed as follows:

Carcinoma of the appendix (n=1), carcinoma of the bladder (n=1), cardia carcinoma (n=1), distal verophagus carcinoma (n=2), carcinoma of the floor of the mouth (n=1), carcinoma of the kidney (n=1), epigastric tumour (n=1).

FIG. 6 shows a corresponding classification of the results from FIG. 2 (IgA).

Table 1 below summarizes the results of FIGS. 5 and 6 numerically. TABLE 1 Organ affected anti-GM₁ IgG anti-G_(M1) IgA n Colon/Rectum 38 = 100% 35 = 92% 38 Breast 19 = 100% 16 = 84% 19 Ovaries 13 = 100% 11 = 85% 13 Stomach 11 = 100%  9 = 82% 11 Pancreas 11 = 100% 10 = 91% 11 Oesophagus 12 = 100% 10 = 83% 12 Gall bladder  8 = 100%  6 = 75% 8 Liver  6 = 86%  7 = 100% 7 C cell  3 = 100%  3 = 100% 3 Lung/Bronchia  7 = 88%  7 = 88% 8 Thyroid  5 = 100%  4 = 80% 5 Prostate  3 = 60%  4 = 80% 5 Other  7 = 88%  7 = 88% 8

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the classifications, corresponding to FIGS. 5 and 6, of the results obtained with AG_(M1)-coated GA-CTs for the measured partial groups according to FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIGS. 7 and 8, the index numbers represent the following diagnoses: Index number Diagnosis Number of sera 1 Carcinoma of the colon n = 13 2 Carcinoma of the breast m = 6 3 Carcinoma of the pancreas n = 4 4 Carcinoma of the oesophagus n = 2 5 Carcinoma of the gall n = 2 bladder 6 Carcinoma of the lung n = 1 7 Other n = 2 Epigastric tumour n = 1 Carcinoma of the appendix n = 1 8 Crohn's disease/ulcerative n = 10 colitis

Table 2 below summarizes the results of FIGS. 7 and 8 numerically. Organ affected anti-AG_(M1) IgG anti-AG_(M1) IgA n Colon/Rectum 12 = 92% 13 = 100% 13 Breast  6 = 100%  5 = 83% 6 Pancreas  4 = 100%  4 = 100% 4 Oesophagus  2 = 100%  2 = 100% 2 Gall bladder  2 = 100%  2 = 100% 2 Liver  1 = 100%  1 = 100% 1 Lung/bronchia  1 = 100%  1 = 100% 1 Other  2 = 100%  2 = 100% 2

If a quantitative correlation of the measured results for the IgG determination which were obtained on the one hand with G_(M1)-coated test tubes and on the other hand, for the same partial group of sera, with AG_(M1)-coated test tubes is carried out, it is found, as shown in FIG. 9, that there is substantial agreement, which allows the conclusion that at least very substantially identical antibodies were measured in the two determinations.

The same applies to the IgA determinations, correlation corresponding to FIG. 9 being shown in FIG. 10.

4. Discussion of the Findings of the Determination of Anti-Ganglioside Antibodies in Control Sera and in Sera of Cancer Patients

As expressly shown by the measured results summarized in FIGS. 1 to 10 and the above Tables 1 and 2, the determination of antibodies which bind to gangliosides (AG_(M1) and/or G_(M1)) permits a clear distinction between the two groups of sera measured. The sensitivity of the determinations carried out was above 75% for all tumour types and in most cases even 100%. It therefore appears that the determinations of IgA using AG_(M1)-coated test tubes give measured results having the highest sensitivity (although as a limiting factor it is necessary to take into account that the number of determinations was smaller than in the case of the use of G_(M1)-coated test tubes).

It should furthermore be pointed out that, in an experiment, corresponding to the determinations of antibodies of the IgG and IgA type, also to determine those of the IgM type, no diagnostically relevant results were obtained (results not shown).

The measured high sensitivity in combination with a high unspecificity with respect to the various cancer types make the determination of anti-ganglioside antibodies, in particular of those of the IgG and/or IgA classes, a promising assay method for the diagnosis, in particular for the early diagnosis, of neoplasms.

The scientific literature does not reveal any discoveries which might suggest such a method. Only a few papers were known in which an attempt was made also to determine anti-ganglioside antibodies in connection with cancer diseases. Starting from the finding that increased/abnormal expression of gangliosides was found in the lung tissue of patients with “small cell lung cancer” (SCLC), two papers (58, 59) investigated whether this abnormal ganglioside expression makes it possible for anti-ganglioside antibodies to be formed and to be detected in cancer patients. In (58), the anti-fucosyl-G_(M1)-ganglioside antibodies sought were not found, while in (59), for the case of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), small amounts of different anti-ganglioside antibodies were detectable in a certain number of patients but, for example in the case of the anti-G_(M1) antibody assay, the values found for the cancer patients were below those of the controls (FIG. 1). Slightly more greatly increased antibody titres were found only with respect to binding to the fucosylated ganglioside FucGM1. In the light of the findings described in the present Application, which clearly contradicts those according to (58, 59), it is to be assumed that, in view of the considerable practical difficulties in the determination of anti-ganglioside antibodies against an intense, serum-dependent background signal by means of the ELISA assay used by them, the authors of (58, 59) were not able actually to produce informative measured results. (58, 59) thus represent prior art clearly leading away from the method according to the invention.

A determination of various types of antibodies in sera of patients suffering from stomach cancer is furthermore described in (60), and a possible prognostic role of such a determination is discussed, “prognostic” being used in the context of a prognosis for the further clinical course of an existing and diagnosed cancer disease. An ELISA assay is used for the antibody determination. The antibodies which were found at increased levels compared with controls also include so-called anti-G_(M1) antibodies, which however were found only with a sensitivity of about 35% in persons suffering from the disease (compared with a value of 5% for normal persons). In the light of (60) and other papers by the authors of (60), these anti-ganglioside antibodies are only one of numerous types of autoantibodies investigated in connection with cancer, and absolutely no suitability of the determination of such antibodies for diagnosis, in particular early diagnosis, and for the determination of the risk to a patient for developing a malignant cancer disease can be derived from the data reported in (60). Such a perspective was obtained for the first time from the measured data which was obtained by the Applicant using his considerable experience in the assay area and was extremely surprising against the background of the prior art.

On the basis of its measured results and an additional intensive study of the literature, the Applicant is convinced that the anti-ganglioside (auto)antibody titres which are found at increased levels in cancer patients have a completely different significance than that which was, for example, the starting point of the considerations of the authors of (58, 59, 60): it is in fact known that the so-called “natural killer cells” (NK cells; cytotoxically active lymphocytes) have, on their surface, asialo-G_(M1) structures to which anti-AG_(M1) antibodies can specifically bind, which antibodies thus deactivate and destroy the NK cells. Active NK cells play an extremely important role in the human immune defence by, for example, killing all degenerated endogenous cells, for example cancer cells, which, owing to their degeneration, have lost the capability of inhibiting the NK cells which come into contact with them. An impairment (inhibition, destruction) of the normal NK cells, which eliminates the selective cytotoxic properties thereof, therefore means that cells which have degenerated in the course of the natural life processes, in particular of the tumour cell type, are no longer properly eliminated. Owing to the improved prospects of survival of such degenerated potential tumour cells, these can, when the function of the NK cells has been disturbed, remain in the body, divide without hindrance and develop into an actual tumour. It should be pointed out that, in the area of animal experiments which employ experimental animals in which an artificial cancer is induced, it is already customary to switch off the immune defence of the experimental animal by administering anti-AG_(M1) antibodies in conjunction with a carcinogen or a tumour nucleus, so that the experimental cancer—desired in the animal model—can develop (3 to 13).

Once the production of anti-asialo-G_(M1) antibodies has been initiated or greatly increased in a human individual, for example owing to bacterial exposure (for example, in infections with Campylobacter jejuni or Helicobacter pylori; cf. 44 to 54), there is a precondition for potential damage to the NK cells and hence to the immune defence, with the consequence of an increased risk that degenerated tumour cells can develop into a tumour. It is therefore to be assumed that the anti-AG_(M1) antibody titres found at significantly increased levels in all cancer sera which were measured in the context of the above-mentioned determinations are a consequence of the presence of a neoplasm (tumour) to a lesser extent in the context of the known tumour markers but rather are a precondition of its genesis. In the course of the tumour development, and in conjunction with stimulated NK cell activity, a “build-up” of the antibody titres may then occur in certain circumstances.

Since the antibodies cross-reacting with gangliosides and the effect on the immune system which is required for the production thereof may already be present before the development of a tumour, the determination of anti-AG_(M1) antibodies can thus be effected according to the invention also in the context of determining a disposition, i.e. determining a cancer risk marker. In this context, it may be advantageous to carry out such a determination after in vivo stimulation of the antibody formation using safe stimulants. In view of the IgA antibodies found at substantially increased levels, the determination can also be effected expressly with suitable assays in body secretions (e.g. saliva, mucous).

In this context, it is of considerable interest that, as shown in particular in FIGS. 5 to 8, increased titres of anti-AG_(M1) antibodies are also found in some of the patients who suffer from a chronic inflammatory intestinal disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis). It is known that, for example in ulcerative colitis, there is an increased risk that intestinal cancer will develop later on in the patients. The risk is about 40%. The finding that this percentage value is of the order of magnitude of the values which are found in sera of patients with chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases (index number 14 in FIGS. 5 and 6; index number 8 in FIGS. 7 and 8) for increased anti-AG_(M1) titres, i.e. a parallelism of statistical cancer risk and an occurrence of anti-AG_(M1) antibodies in the sera of relevant patients is detectable, is a further finding supporting the above-mentioned assumptions.

The consequences for novel methods for the prevention, inhibition and therapy of cancer which arise from the findings described in this Application form the subject of a separate parallel patent application filed simultaneously with the present Application. 

1. Method for the early diagnosis of neoplasms in a patient and for estimating his risk of the formation and/or spread of malignant neoplasms, wherein the presence and amount of antibodies which (i) bind to ganglioside structures and to antigen structures simulating ganglioside structures and (ii) the presence of which and/or the significantly increased amounts of which compared with normal persons correlate with high sensitivity to the presence of a neoplasm and/or of a risk to the patient from malignant neoplasms are determined in a biological sample of the patient using an assay of high sensitivity for the antibodies to be determined.
 2. Method according to claim 1, wherein antibodies (anti-AG_(M1) antibodies and/or anti G_(M1) antibodies) of the IgG and/or IgA type which bind to asialo-G_(M1) (AG_(M1)) and/or monosialo-G_(M1) (G_(M1)) are determined in a body fluid of a person.
 3. Method according to claim 1, wherein antibodies binding to AG_(M1) are determined.
 4. Method according to any of claim 1, wherein the antibody assay is carried out with the aid of a ligand binding assay (immunoassay) of the sandwich type or the competitive type.
 5. Method according to claim 4, wherein the antibody assay is carried out with the aid of a ligand binding assay using a reagent marked with a chemiluminescence marking molecule.
 6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the detection of the antibodies correlates with a diagnosis of neoplasms which are to be assigned to a cancer disease of an internal organ or to a metastatic cancer disease.
 7. Method according to claim 5, wherein the cancer disease is a carcinoma of the colon, a carcinoma of the breast, an ovarian carcinoma, a carcinoma of the stomach, a carcinoma of the pancreas, a carcinoma of the oesophagus, a carcinoma of the gall bladder, a carcinoma of the liver, a c cell carcinoma, a carcinoma of the thyroid, a carcinoma of the prostate, a carcinoma of the lung, a carcinoma of the appendix, a carcinoma of the bladder, a cardia carcinoma, a carcinoma of the distal verophagus, a carcinoma of the floor of the mouth, a carcinoma of the kidney or an epigastric carcinoma.
 8. Method according to claim 1, wherein the patient is a patient having inflammatory intestinal disease, and the detection of significantly increased amounts of antibodies binding to AG_(M1) and/or G_(M1) is correlated with an increased risk of intestinal cancer in this patient.
 9. Method according to claim 1, wherein, before the measurement and/or in the evaluation of the measured results obtained, neuropathies which are accompanied by increased titres of antibodies binding to AG_(M1) or G_(M1) are ruled out in the patient.
 10. Use of antibodies of the TgG and/or IgA type which bind to AG_(M1) as universal markers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of malignant neoplastic diseases and for the estimation of the risk to a patient that a malignant neoplastic disease will develop in said patient. 